A tale of two Obamas: Up in D.C., down in U.S.

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While Washington talks about President Obama’s new mojo, polls show voters outside the Beltway are sulking.
AP photo composite by POLITICO

White House officials maintain that the bleak polling numbers are not surprising and say the liberal wing of their party — cool on Obama and crucial for midterm congressional elections — has been reenergized.

"The President undertook health care because it was the right thing for the country even though it was politically risky," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. "We don’t share the media’s obsession with poll numbers, particularly months and months from an election. The politics of passing health care will be very good for Democrats. It’s only in this town that not having them fully realized in a matter of days would be seen as a failure.”

Pfeiffer added: “The president’s political standing is quite high considering that we are governing in the worst economy in 70 years and the anti-Washington mood in the country. He fares quite well in comparison to other presidents in similar circumstances."

Obama aides say that perceptions in the capital about Obama’s effectiveness and political standing have been changed not just by health care, but also job growth, foreign-policy successes and lower-than-expected costs for the bailout.

“What we got in the Beltway was a break in the losing narrative,” said one of the city’s best-known Democratic consultants. “Obama has won something, and it was against all odds. He had lost the health-care battle a half-dozen times, and he finally got it over the finish line.”

Still, the state polls hold some troubling signs for the president.

In Pennsylvania, Obama’s personal approval rating is at 42 percent, compared to 49 percent who disapprove of his job performance, Susquehanna Polling and Research said this week. And a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll earlier this month in Ohio showed Obama eking out a 46 percent to 45 percent approval-to-disapproval rating, with only 42 percent of independent voters approving of his job performance.

A new Associated Press-GfK poll found Americans oppose the health care overhaul 50 percent to 39 percent – worse rankings than before Congress passed the bill, when polls were evenly split.

In Florida, where he visited Thursday, Obama is losing two critical groups on health care, seniors and independent voters, according to a Mason-Dixon poll late last month. Nearly two-thirds of Florida seniors oppose the health bill, with just 25 percent in favor. Independents oppose the law by a margin of 62 percent to 34 percent.

A top administration official said the battle over health reform was so bruising that “public opinion has not caught up, but Washington’s perception is different than four weeks ago.”

The official expressed guarded hope that public perceptions may be changing too, citing surveys showing that optimism about the economy is on the rise. Optimism about the future, the official said, is more important than current employment figures and will allow Democrats to argue this fall that “now is not the time to turn back.”

DC is thick with slimey liberals, they are door to door at Congressional Country Club because almost everyone works for the government or they are the liberal lackey press or the left wing radical academics. It is no surprise he's popular there. Everywhere else people have a sense of proportion and common sense. They actually have to compete for jobs etc. Hopefully there are more of us than them

If you take a look at the international scene, there isn't a country anywhere where the party in power is not in trouble - England, France, Hungary, Spain. Every country in the whole world is facing a financial crisis. As long as jobs are scarce and people are not working, incumbent politicians are in trouble. Voters are so desperate that the will try anything including replacing the party in power hoping that the opposition party can change things around. It's not about conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican. If there is somebody who could do a better job as president than our current president, NAME THAT PERSON! Considering how fractured the country is politically, it's amazing that anything gets done. Conservatives and Republicans flatter themselves too much thinking that voters are anymore in love with them than they are with Democrats. And the big challenge to the Republicans, if they do take over the government, is what are they going to do to change thing around? And if they do not produce results, they will be tossed out of office as well. Frankly, considering how difficult the job of president is, especially these days, I'm surprised that President Obama has managed to retain a favorability rating of 49%, Few other world leaders have faired as well.

The comments from bitter conservatives and Republicans are predictable but add little to the debate. Calling Obama a liar and talking about slimy liberals really adds nothing to the debate. You so called conservative who think you're better than anybody else and slander anybody else who does not agree with them, need to stop harping on the same old divisive rhetoric and come up with some real ideas that will help the country if you are the patriots you claim you are!

Someone needs to remind his highness the empty suited messiah that the only real power in DC is in the Constitution. The rest is shared by The People across America and Nov 2, 2010 we're going to have a flaming reminder of that fact.

Has anyone been through DC lately? This is the only place in the country where stimulus funds are being spent. Not to mention our tax dollars - on guaranteed raises, bonuses, lavish healthcare and pension plans for our government employees who work about 30 hour a week while the rest of America slaves away to pay for all of this. No wonder there is an imbalance.

Hey clayusmcret, When you win you will have to lead and you need a plan and you DON'T HAVE A PLAN. And the president is hardly an empty suited messiah because you can't do any better. There is no doubt that Barack Obama is very intelligent and very articulate. We are lucky that we have him serving and that he agrees to serve. He's a lot better than many of the mental midgets in the Republican Party - talk about empty suits!

T.J. Rooney, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said the health plan is “still a bit toxic” in the states, but urged Democrats to buck up. “Democrats need to put away the rubber sheets and sleep in dry beds,” Rooney said. “We need to talk as passionately about this bill as the other side does.”

Pelosi, “but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

SecondClass Party: NA Reply #4 Apr. 16, 2010 - 5:32 AM ESTIf you take a look at the international scene, there isn't a country anywhere where the party in power is not in trouble - England, France, Hungary, Spain. Every country in the whole world is facing a financial crisis. As long as jobs are scarce and people are not working, incumbent politicians are in trouble. Voters are so desperate that the will try anything including replacing the party in power hoping that the opposition party can change things around. It's not about conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican. If there is somebody who could do a better job as president than our current president, NAME THAT PERSON! Considering how fractured the country is politically, it's amazing that anything gets done. Conservatives and Republicans flatter themselves too much thinking that voters are anymore in love with them than they are with Democrats. And the big challenge to the Republicans, if they do take over the government, is what are they going to do to change thing around? And if they do not produce results, they will be tossed out of office as well. Frankly, considering how difficult the job of president is, especially these days, I'm surprised that President Obama has managed to retain a favorability rating of 49%, Few other world leaders have faired as well.

NAME THAT PERSON??? LOL How about anyone. Anyone could have come in and taken direct orders from Pelosi and Reed. Puppets need no credentials or brains. You are surprised at a 49% "favorability" rating. hahaha.. more Washington math at work. 49% is favorable to you???Just so you know China and India are doing just fine. The recession is over in China ( I mean "really" over and not the Obama-type over bullcrap. And there is a building boom in New Dehli... go figure. Obama is a loser, a professional compaigner, a stump speaker and nothing else. The reason his "victories" in DC don't resonate is that no one in America with a brain sees them as victories only TROUBLE. American's have gotten pretty good at BS detecting. Those that disagree with Obie are not a bunch of uneducated, gun toting, backwoods hicks like DC would have you to believe. The average education of a Tea Partier well exceeds the national average... thus blab on oh great Obloviator.... blab on....

The two places are not DC and the U.S. It's the Democrat-loving media and the rest of us. They keep giving happy press. Now, how could people be happy with the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback, the bill that was not read a first time, a second time, or anytime. One by one, even the dunces must acknowledge this is a government that does what it wants and wants what it does, but that doesn't mean anyone else wants it, which would be democracy. Come out from the closets, Democrats and rename your party appropriately (hint: it begins with an "s" or a "c").

"The spin took hold"... Shows how clueless the Democrats are. Conservative opposition to the government takeover of health care is NOT based on a list of talking points. It's based on a proper understanding of reality and the facts.